Choice Ireland

Medical News Today

19 Apr 2010

During a recent United Nations press conference on reducing maternal mortality, World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan praised President Obama's support of access to legal abortion services, the CanWest News Service/Vancouver Sun reports. A select group of 40 government, U.N. and foundation representatives are meeting this week to discuss the creation of a "joint action plan" on maternal and child health, which U.N. member states will be asked to adopt at the agency's September summit. Improving maternal and child health are two of U.N's Millennium Development Goals.

Chan said abortion is a "very complex, difficult and sensitive issue" but added that she is "pleased to see the change" in U.S policy under Obama.

The push for the joint action plan comes as Canada prepares to host this summer's G8 and G20 meetings, which will feature Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's maternal and child health initiative.

According to the CanWest News Service/Sun, Chan's comments emphasize the contrast between Obama's support for access to legal abortion and that of the Harper administration, which has excluded abortion from its initiative. Chan said, "In the case of Canada, I think I respect the government and its people to decide what is their right investment -- and I am sure that this is the discussion that is going on."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last month criticized the Canadian initiative for excluding abortion. She said an international effort to reduce maternal mortality must include family planning services and access to legal, safe abortions.

During the U.N. press conference, Canadian International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda said the country will not insist that other G8 members support the initiative, adding, "[W]e're asking them all to focus within a framework." She said each county "will be free and flexible to choose the best way that they will contribute to the effort."

Earlier this week, the medical journal Lancet published a study that said maternal deaths declined to about 342,900 in 2008, down from 526,300 in 1980. By contrast, a WHO report released Tuesday estimated that the figure has remained steady at about 500,000 deaths per year, prompting some critics to say the agency is camouflaging progress to maintain the flow of donor aid (Edwards, CanWest News Service/Vancouver Sun, 4/15).

Differences in Maternal Mortality Reports Highlight 'Politics' of Public Health

The conflicting maternal mortality numbers from WHO and the Lancet underscore the "politics behind public health, where progress made in tackling a health problem can jeopardize funding," the AP/USA Today reports. The Lancet study found that the number of maternal deaths declined by more than 35% over 28 years, while Tuesday's report from WHO's Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health said maternal mortality was at a standstill, with up to 500,000 maternal deaths annually. U.N. officials said in the WHO report that $20 billion is needed for each year between 2011 and 2015 to reduce maternal mortality in developing countries. While the authors of the Lancet study used statistical modeling and more data than previous studies, the authors of the WHO study did not explain where they obtained their data or what kind of analyses they used, the AP/USA Today reports.

According to AP/USA Today, some observers say public health data should be "taken with a huge grain of salt," especially if the data come from advocates who are seeking funding for a campaign. Philip Stevens of the International Policy Network said the U.N. "has a track record of inflating disease figures to keep the aid money flowing, so I'd probably place more faith in the figures which show a lower disease burden" (AP/USA Today, 4/15).